In combat or on maneuvers, a tank generally travels under conditions which are very tough, in particular when the terrain is uneven, stoney, and/or sandy, and when climatic conditions that are not necessarily clement are also encountered. Despite the reliability of such vehicles, and of the associated equipment, breakdowns are always possible, some of which immobilize the tank, breakdowns in the engine, in the transmission systems, or in the tracks, etc. Naturally, in addition to such accidental breakdowns, when the tank is in combat, it might suffer breakdowns resulting from damage caused by an antitank weapon or by a mine exploding, for example.
When a tank is immobilized, a first repair operation may be performed in situ by using certain on-board tools. However, there are limits to what can be done with such tools, and it might be impossible to repair the tank, in particular through lack of spare parts. A second repair operation may be performed in situ by using a breakdown vehicle which is capable of carrying larger items of equipment, e.g. spare parts, but this considerably increases the repair time. A third repair operation may be performed by using a transporter vehicle for removing the tank, but it must be possible for such a vehicle to reach the zone in which the tank is immobilized.
Overall, there are plenty of possibilities for repairing a tank, but they are disparate, and they often take a long time to implement, which decreases their effectiveness.